How does MACRA impact my Medicare payments?
Date Posted: Tuesday,
June 07, 2016
How does the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) impact my Medicare payments?
MACRA impacts Medicare payments in three ways.
The law:
Repeals the flawed Medicare sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula that calculated payment cuts for physicians.
- Creates a new framework for rewarding physicians for providing higher quality care by establishing two tracks for payment:
- Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS), and
- Alternative Payment Models (APMs) - Consolidates three existing quality reporting programs, plus adds a new program, into a single system through MIPS:
- Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS)
- Value-based Payment Modifier (VBPM)
- Meaningful use (MU)
- Clinical practice improvement activities (CPIA)
The following is a timeline for MACRA implementation:
- 2016 through 2019: MACRA establishes a 0.5 percent physician fee schedule update each year.
- January 2019: Based on qualification and eligibility, physicians may enter the APM track or the MIPS track.
- 2020 through 2025: Medicare physician fee schedule updates remain at 2019 levels with no updates.
Source: AAFP
